Improvement in feeding paper to rotary printing-presses



' 2 Sheets--Sheet 1. l. T. ASHLEY.

Feeding Paper to Rotary Printing-Presses. No. 144,822. PatentedNov-25,1873.

l 2Sheets-Sheet2.

if T. ASHLEY.

Feeding Paper to Rotary Printing Presses. N0. 144,822. PatentedNov-.25,i873.

@ya wim @VS1 is: m@ @l Y '/tewew, Invair/5.57

ZM, fia 02M...

UNITED STATES JOHN T. AsHLEY, OE BROOKLYN, E. n., NEW Yonx.

i IMPROVEMENT IN FEEDING PAPER To RoTARv PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 144,822, dated November25, 1973; application filed May 23, 1873.

CASE A.

'To all whom/t may concern:

1f Be it known that I, JOHN T. ASHLEY, of

Brooklyn, E. D., in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented certain lmprovements in Feeding Paper to Rotary Printi' ing-Presses; and I -do hereby declare that the following isaI full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings making part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1, Plate 1,is an elevation of one side of a press-frame with my improvementsaprplicd to it. Fig. 2, Plate l, is a top view of the same. Fig. 3,Plate l, is an elevation of L the opposite side of the machine to thatshown by'Fig. l. Fig. 4, Plate 2, is a section taken vertically andlongitudinally through the machine. Fig. 5, Plate 2, is a section takendiametrically through the perforated suctionroller which takes thesheets from the presscylinder. Fig. 6, Plate 2, isa diametrical sectionthrough the press-cylinder.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondjng parts in the severaligures.

The object of my invention is to improve printing-presses by theemployment of such means as will enable me to dispense with gripers andtapes, and the many objections attending the same. y

The following description of my invention will enable others skilled inthe art to understand it.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the frame of aprinting-press, in which a horizontal reciprocating form-bed is to beemployed, working beneath a rotating cylinder, C. B represents aninclined feed-board, from which the sheets to be printed are transferredby a feeder-boy77 to the surface of the cylinder C in the usualwell-known manner. VThe journals ofthe cylinder C have their bearingsinelevated standards of the frame A, and one of these journals is tubular,as at h,-and turns in a stationary tubular journal-box, Z, on

- which is suitably applied a pipe or hose which communicates with anexhausting-engine. If

N chesi'rableqournals may be tubular. The cylin er C s hollow, and has arow of perforations, c' i, through it, which are arranged in ay straightline, extending across it from end to.'

end, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. There is alsol a perforation, r, madethrough one end of the cylinder C, which, at certain times, is closed bya valve, r2. This valve frz is arranged on the outside of the cylinder;and its pivoted `stem pf (see Fig. 3) has a toe, p, pivoted to it, whichis held in 'place by a spring, s. At vthe proper time during therevolution of the cylinder G for opening the valve r2, the outerextremity of the toe p strikes a stop, t, on the frame A, which allowsair to enter the cylinder C through the passage r. The spring s causesthe valve r2 to close the passage r after the toe p leaves the stop t.Partially surrounding the cylinder C is a number of pipes, g g1, whichare parallel to the longitudinal axis of this cylinder, and which areconnected, at their open ends, to a tubular ring,G. rPhe closed ends ofthe tubes g are supported by radial arms a, and that end of the pipe g1which is on the same side of the machine as the closed ends of the pipesg is supported by a standard, a. One end of the pipe g1 communicateswith the tubular ring Gr, and the opposite end is closed, at certaintimes, byVV one end of a valve, a, which is pivoted to the standard a',the opposite end of which valve is loaded, and rests, by its toe nf,upon a cam or segment, c, which is on a spur-wheel, l), at one end ofthe cylinder C. The tubular ring G is secured to the frame A by strapsg3, or other means, and on this tubular ring is a coupling, g2, to whicha pipe or hose is to be attached, which leads from a suitableblast-engine, by means ofwhich air is forced through perforations whichare made through the pipes g g1, and directed toward the cylinder C.

I have represented the pipes g as being larranged parallel to the axisof the cylinder C, so as to induce a blast of air toward its axis; but,if desirable, segments of pipes, which are concentric to the axis of thecylinder, may be adopted; or nozzles may be used instead of the shortperforations. I prefer to make the perforations through pipes g g1, sothat the jets-of expelled air will be directed a little out-` ward orobliquely toward each end`of the cylinder C, for the purpose ofspreading the sheets smoothly against the surface of this cylinder D2represents a taking-off cylinder, which is arranged so as to nearlytouch the cylinder C, and which may be of any required diameter. Thiscylinder is thickly perforated, and it is rotated in an oppositedirection to thel cylinder C by means of spur-wheels D D1. Inside ofthis perforated cylinder D2 is applied a round bar, J, having a slot, j,made longitudinally into it, which slot is directly opposite thecylinder C, and at a point where it is desired to take the sheets whenprinted from this cylinder C, as shown in Fig. 4. At one end of theslotted bar J is a tubular coupling, d, and a ring-packing, 7c. Thecoupling or tubular eX- tension d is for the purpose of receiving a pipeor hose, which leads from an exhausting-engine. l? represents a tray forreceiving sheets of paper as they are discharged from the perforatedcylinder D2. This tray is supported upon brackets N on frame A, andinclinedin two directions-that is to say, it inclines downward fromcylinder D2 at a proper angle-and is also inclined laterally, or towardone side of the press-frame A, as shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4:. In allother respects the press is or may be furnished in the usual well-knownl mnner.

Motion being communicated to the cylinders from any convenient primemotor, and they being rotated in the directions indicated by the arrowson Fig. l, and the blast and suction-engines being put in motion, airwill be exhausted from the cylinders C and D2, andA forcibly ejectedfrom the pipes g g2. When the perforations i c' through cylinder G arebrought around tothe position shown in Fig. 4, a sheet of paper is movedfrom the table B, and the front edge of such sheet is adj usted properlyover these perforations, and securely held by the external pressure ofthe atmosphere acting on those points of the paper which cover theperforations. The sheet is thus held until it is carried around,printed, and brought opposite the slotted portion j of the bar J, whichis inside of the thickly-perforated cylinder D2. Just at this moment,and while both cylinders continue to revolve, the valve r2 will beopened and air will be allowed to rush into the cylinder C in suchquantities as to counteract the pressure of air on the paper, and allowthe edge of the sheet to be transferred to the cylinder D2 by theexhaustion taking place through that portion of it opposite the slot j.The sheet will then be attracted to the cylinder D2, moved over it, and,finally, discharged into the tray P, in which the sheet will be moveddownward, and to one side, againstthe bottom and side ledges of thistray. I thus leave the sheets in the pile with two of their edges even.

It will be observed that I use separated pervforations i, instead of onecontinuous slot across the cylinder. I do this for the purpose .ofpreventing the front edges of the sheets from being drawn into thecylinder, which would render the press in operation, and the movement ofthe sheets, uncertain. The bridges or partitions between the holes iallow only portions of the paper to be acted on by atmospheric pressureinduced by exhaustion, and these bridges effectually prevent the paperfrom being drawn or forced into the cylinder.

This feature of separated holes arranged in a row across the hollowcylinder I consider very important, as it enables me to dispense withlgripers, and, consequently, all their attendant mechanical contrivances;and, where two or more such cylinders are used as I contemplate usingthemin perfecting presses, the 4labor and inconvenience of adjustinggripers are obviated. I also increase the capacity of the press bygaining surface for sheets of pav per on the cylinder, as theperforations 'i occupy much less space than gripers hitherto used.

During the operation above described, air is ejected from the pipes gagainst the sheet, which keeps every part of it snugly and smoothly inclose contact with the cylinder C, thereby rendering unnecessary the useof tapes, which are objectionable in printing-presses for many reasons.The effect of the outward currents of air on the sheets, which is due tothe oblique directions given to the perforations or nozzles in pipes g,is that sheets are smoothed out laterally, as well as blown closelyagainst the face of the cylinder C. If desirable, blast or suction pipesmay be arranged in such relation to the thickly-perforated cylinder D2that ,they will cause the edges of the sheets to be blown down as theyare moved over said cylinder and into the tray P, and thus prevent anysurrounding air from displacing the sheets by causing their edges toturn upward at the commencement of their discharge from the saidcylinder D2. Such auxiliary pipes may be found useful in printing onlarge sheets of very thin paper. I do not, however, confine myself totheir use.

During the operation of feeding each sheet to the front guides of thepress, the blast from pipe g' is suspended by the opening of its valven, after which this valve n will be shut, and the blast from said pipe gcaused to smooth the sheet on the front edge of the feed-board. Theblast from pipe u will continue to act on the sheet for keeping itsmooth upon the upper part of cylinder C, and will cease again at aproper time to allow the adjustment of another sheet against the frontguides.

Having described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. One or more pipes, g, applied to induce blasts of air onto the sheetsas they are moved around on the surface of the cylinder C, substantiallyas described.

2. The hollow rotating impression-cylinder G for taking the sheets oneat a time from the feed-board B, in the manner described,incombinatiouwith a taking-off cylinder, which removes the printedsheets from the impression'- cylinder and delivers them into a tray,substantially as described.

3. The stationary slotted exhaustion-bar J and the perforated rotarycylinder D2, combined with thelbimpression-eylinder C, substan. tiallyas descr: ed.

4. The blast-pipe g', arranged above the front edge of the feed-table B,and perforated so as to direct blasts of air upon the top sheets Whilethey are being drawn oi' by the impression-cylinder C, substantially asdescribed.

5. The valve-opening 1' through the head of the hollowimpression-cylinder provided With a. valve, 13, and valve-trip, incombination With a tubular journal, h, and fixed tubular journalbox lfor receiving a hose, substantially as described. x

6. The double inclined tray P, having all sides Xed and yarranged totake the sheets directly from the rotating cylinder D2, and by thegravity of the sheets alone adjust two of their edges even, incombination with theperforated discharging-cylinder D2, substantially asdescribed.

Witnesses: JOHN T. ASHLEY.

J. N. CAMPBELL, J Ali/ms MARTIN, J r.

